


FiKi Halloween Ficlets II

by Ralemalt



Series: This is Halloween! [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Clowns, Dolls, Gen, Halloween Theme, Incest, M/M, Warnings will be added as chapters are, fear of clowns, trying for plot twists again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-23 20:55:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12516384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralemalt/pseuds/Ralemalt
Summary: This years Halloween prompts!3. Prompt: Do you want to play a game?His brother went missing 15 years ago, and it's time Kili faced his fears.





	1. All Dolled Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He screamed and screamed, but she couldn't hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween!! Everybody in a spoopy mood?
> 
>  **Prompt:** Dollhouse
> 
>  **Warnings:** Character death

Wide teary blue eyes stared at the lifeless figure across the table from him, forced into a sitting position despite the fact that the limbs kept slipping.

The horror of this reality refused to pierce through the blond's consciousness, a self-defensive mechanism to attempt to keep what little sanity he had left.

Because that body was Kili. Kili who was...who was his _everything_.

"Come on, Fili. It's tea time!" Their host insisted with a large grin on her face, the lipstick she'd put on smeared wider than her lips and speckling her front teeth. "I think Kili wants more sugar in his. He's got such a sweet tooth." She sighed before scooping nothing into the cup sitting in front of the brunet and stirring the empty contents.

Fili didn't care about sugar or tea or anything. All he could think was _this can’t be real thiscantberealthiscantbe—_ as those brown eyes watched him from the other side of the table.

She frowned before looking between the two of them. "You’re being very quiet. Did you two have a fight or something?" She demanded to know. "You never fight! You love each other!" It was practically an order. She pouted before grabbing both Fili and then Kili, the latter's head flopping forward to hide his face.

Fili's horror quickly shifted to terror as they were both hauled to their bedroom where that very morning he'd woken up next to a smiling Kili who had greeted him with a good morning kiss.

"You two are staying in here until you've kissed and made up." She declared before shoving them both on the bed, forcing them face to face so they could make up.

But she didn't realize - _couldn't_ see -

She'd dropped Kili earlier, just before tea time. She was normally so careful with them, but she'd dropped him on his head and he - and he was – his neck had been—

 _He was dead_.

The horror mounted and something shattered inside him at being stuck next to his dead Kili and having to stare into that emotionless face.

Fili screamed bloody murder but he couldn't move to get away.

But she couldn't hear, couldn't see his horror.

"Samantha, it's time for dinner." A voice spoke up from across the room, "Put your dolls away and come eat."

"Okay, Mommy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this [tumblr post](http://just-shower-thoughts.tumblr.com/post/142463642039/if-a-toy-from-toy-story-died-the-kids-wouldnt).


	2. Playing With Strings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili isn't sure about his brother's new imaginary friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt:** Imaginary friends
> 
>  **Warnings/Notes:** Clowns, fear of clowns, kid fic
> 
> Part 1 of 2

Kili was five when he was forever traumatized and his deep rooted fear of clowns was planted.

The circus had been innocent enough – and it wasn’t like Kili had been screaming and crying the entire time…just half way through their visit when a clown had popped up out of nowhere to give both him and his older brother, Fili, a balloon animal each.

The poor clown, who apologized profusely the moment the small child began to wail, wasn’t even that scary looking. He wore a curly rainbow wig, and had the typical white face paint, red around his mouth, blue triangles drawn around his eyes, and a bright red nose that made Fili giggle ecstatically when the man made it honk.

He wasn’t scary, but to the sobbing five year old, he was terrifying.

Fili didn’t think so, and being a whole year older than Kili, thought the clown was awesome and his little brother was being a baby. He didn’t speak to Kili for the rest of the day because they’d had to cut their trip to the circus short since the little boy wouldn’t stop crying. That only made Kili more upset because Fili was his best friend and he didn’t like it when the older boy was mad at him.

Luckily, by the end of the day the fiasco at the circus had been forgotten and the two boys were laughing and playing together as always. Kili didn't even have any nightmares that night and the thought of clowns faded to the back of his mind to make room for better things.

Until two days later.

"Kili, love, please go tell your brother to wash up. Dinner's ready." Their mom requested as she helped Kili pack up his colouring book and crayons from the table. "And make sure you wash your hands too." She smiled and poked his nose before kissing the top of his head.

"Okay Mommy." He grinned as he slipped off his chair, taking his book and crayons with him as he scampered up the stairs to the room he shared with his brother.

As he got closer to the door, he heard Fili's giggling coming from inside. Curious as to what could have been so fun without Kili being there, the small child pushed the door open more and stepped inside.

His brother jumped up from the floor quickly and turned to stare at Kili with wide eyes before relaxing when he realized it wasn’t one of his parents.

"Mommy says dinner." Kili began, unsure why Fili would have startled like he had. His brother had been sitting in front of their closet and didn't even have any toys out, so he hadn't been doing anything wrong.

The blond let out a sigh that sounded relieved before he looked back toward the closet door. It was a wide closet with two sliding doors that ran along tracks built into the floor and the ceiling. The doors would fold to each side when pushed open and at that moment they were only open a few inches.

"It's only Kili." Fili seemed to be explaining, but clearly the only other person in the room was Kili, and Kili didn't need that explained.

Before he could ask, Fili was waving him over to the closet with an excited grin on his face. "Kili! Come meet Strings!"

Confused as to what his brother was talking about, Kili hesitantly joined him, colouring book and box of crayons held tightly against his chest. Had Fili brought home an animal?

"Who's Strings?" Kili wondered as he peered around and didn't see anything that stood out.

"He's my new friend." Fili explained and pointed to the closet. No, he wasn't pointing to the closet; he was pointing inside the closet. "He followed us home from the circus and wants to be our friend." Fili explained. "He's a clown - but not a scary one so you don't have to be afraid of him."

Kili immediately remembered the clown with the balloons and the terror he'd felt, and his insides turned to ice at the idea of a clown in their closet, in their _room_. But surely there wasn't really someone in there, right? His brother was making fun of him! "It's not funny, Fili!" He scowled to cover his fear, but even then there was a little hitch in his voice as his eyes burned with tears. Fear or anger; he was too young to tell. "There's no dumb clown in the closet!" He threw his book and crayons onto his bed to be taken care of later.

"Yes there is!" Fili insisted and crossed his arms, face set in a stubborn frown. Kili always knew when his big brother was lying – neither of them was very good at it, and this was not Fili’s lying face. "Fine. He didn't want to be your friend anyway." The older boy huffed and turned away from Kili before stomping toward the door. "I'll be back later so we can play more, Strings." He promised before finally leaving the room.

It took Kili a couple of seconds to realize he'd been left alone, and though he was sure his brother had just been trying to scare him, he wasn't taking a chance and fled the room right after him.

Their father checked the closet that night before they went to sleep, moving clothes and toys to make sure he was as thorough as he could be.

Fili sat in his bed glaring at Kili the entire time, arms crossed over his chest and blue eyes colder than Kili had ever seen them.

Their father announced that the closet was monster free and both boys were tucked in and kissed goodnight.

As Kili snuggled down under his covers, he couldn't help but throw at his grumpy brother, "Told you there was no clown in the closet."

He heard Fili snort in the dark. "He didn't want to be caught so he's been hiding under your bed."

Kili wasn’t able to sleep that night.

After that the small boy found himself playing by himself more and more as Fili wanted to play more with his new friend than his boring baby brother. Kili thought Fili was the boring one since he only ever wanted to play in front of the stupid closet instead of going outside and finding frogs and bugs to play with like they usually did.

At first the younger boy was upset that Fili didn’t want to play with him unless they both played with _Strings_ , but there was no way he wanted to play with a clown. Imaginary or not.

Both their parents assured him that Fili would eventually get tired of his imaginary friend and want to play with Kili again, so Kili held onto that hope and continued to play on his own all the while fiercely missing his best friend.

There was no way Kili could have known that he was about to lose what was most important to him.

Whispering woke him up one night when their room was still dark and he couldn’t see a thing. Half asleep, he lay beneath his warm blankets and listened, wondering if he was just dreaming the sounds. Nothing happened for a few minutes, so the boy began to drift off again.

Until, “But what about Kili?”

It was Fili, words spoken in the lowest whisper the six year old could manage.

For a few seconds Kili could have believed that his brother was just talking in his sleep, but then he heard that whisper, and that was _not_ Fili.

“But...he’s my best friend.” Fili responded, voice reluctant and a little sad. “I don’t want to leave him…”

There were more whispers and the longer Kili had to listen to them, the more his hairs stood on end. His body seemed so cold it was frozen where it had been snug and warm just a few moments ago.

“Promise we can come back and play with him?” Fili was asking, resigned. “…okay then. Let’s go!”

And then there was the familiar sound of the closet door sliding open, and then shuffling across the floor.

Kili didn’t know how he knew, but he knew it was Fili moving inside, and despite his fear, he couldn’t let his brother go anywhere. He gathered all the courage he could to try and move, a cry already falling from his mouth as he finally flung his covers away. “FILI NO!” He screamed so loudly that it covered the sound of the closet doors slamming together as they closed.

The sound of their parents rushing to the room came only moments later, and the door was opened and the light was turned on.

“Kili? What’s wrong sweetheart?” Their mother was beside him in an instant, pulling him into her arms as she tried to calm his sobbing.

“Where’s your brother?” Their father asked prompting Kili to look over at the bed he already knew was empty. Fili’s covers had been flung to the side and the impression his body had made in the mattress and pillow were still visible. This made the young boy choke on his sadness as he buried his face in his mother’s shoulder. He pointed a shaky hand at the closet, unable to explain.

“Is he trying to scare you again?” Their father frowned as he stepped toward the doors. “Fili, this isn’t funny. If you don’t come out here this instant and apologize to your brother, you’re grounded!” He waited a moment before growing impatient and flinging open the closet doors.

Kili knew that Fili wouldn’t be stepping out or apologizing, and he knew what they’d find when those doors were thrown open.

Nothing.

Because Fili was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really proud of this one for some reason!


	3. One Last Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His brother went missing 15 years ago, and it's time Kili faced his fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sequel to _Playing with Strings_.
> 
> **Prompt:** Do you want to play a game?
> 
> **Warnings/Notes:** Clowns, fear of clowns, character death
> 
> Part 2 of 2

Kili hadn’t stepped inside his childhood bedroom for years and hadn’t slept in it since the night his family’s lives changed forever.

The devastation of losing a child was still just as fresh as it had been that night fifteen years ago. And that devastation was one of the things that had driven Kili out the moment he’d turned eighteen, yearning for a fresh start where he wasn’t weighed down by the trauma; where he didn’t have to listen to his mother’s hopeful words, even so many years later.

Sometimes Kili found himself thinking that that was the worst part of it. It hadn’t been the way his mother had tried to hide the tear tracks from him when he’d happened upon her unexpectedly, or how for years after she’d kept the room clean and ready as though it was going to be used again any day.

It was how she refused to give up hope that her baby boy would come home one day. The authorities had never found a body, and although both Kili and his father (never _their_ father again) had accepted that Fili wasn’t just _missing_ , his mother couldn’t. It had made it impossible to move on.

“I need to make sure everything’s ready for when Fili comes home.”

“When Fili comes home our family will be complete again.”

When Fili comes home. _When Fili comes home._

The only problem was that Fili was never going to be coming home and Kili was the only one who truly knew it. He didn’t need a body to prove it. Kili knew it because he had been there the night his big brother was lured into their closet by something and was never seen again.

Nobody had listened to the half intelligible ramblings of a child clearly traumatized by the entire situation when he’d tried to explain about Fili’s imaginary friend. The moment _circus_ and _clown_ fell out of his mouth, his parents remembered his earlier panic and chalked it all up to an overactive imagination.

He couldn’t blame them when even he had a hard time believing it. He’d _been there_ and still found it hard to believe, catching himself sometimes wondering if his mind had just made everything up. Maybe Fili had just gotten out of bed and wandered out of the house like a detective had theorized at the beginning.

“Kili?” His mother’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked down at her. He’d taken after his father and had surpassed her in height by the time he’d turned fourteen.

Sometimes when he took notice of things like that, he couldn’t stop his mind from wondering what Fili would have been like had he gotten the chance to grow up. Would he have taken more after their father or their mother? What kinds of things would he have enjoyed, and what kind of brother would he have been?

It was a dangerous line of thought. Kili had his own ideas – ones he had never shared with either of his parents – but of course, there was no way of ever knowing for sure.

“Are you okay, dear?” His mother always looked so tired, and as much as Kili had hated it before, that hope always held in her eyes was gone now. She just looked...defeated.

He offered her a smile, though it barely reached his eyes. “I’m fine, Mom. It’s just…been a while.” He admitted as he took a breath and pushed the door open.

He was back home for the holidays and had decided that this was the year he'd finally face his fears. And maybe say his final goodbyes to a small boy he'd barely gotten to know but would always miss.

The room had only been changed into a guestroom a year or two ago as his mother tried to accept the fact that her son was gone. Kili was pretty sure she still held out hope that Fili would come home, but had changed it when Kili’s father had pointed out that Fili wouldn’t be six anymore.

And changed it had. It was not the room he remembered:  two small beds made for children pushed against the walls on opposite sides of the room with the closet in the very middle. Fili’s blankets had always been blue and Kili’s had always been green. Now there was one bed pushed to the side of the room where Kili’s old bed used to be, its covers a flowery pattern with reds and golds.

The dresser he and Fili had shared – because they’d shared _almost_ everything – had been replaced with a smaller vanity that sat where Fili’s old bed used to be. There weren’t any stuffed animals or stray crayons on the floor, and the bookshelf filled with storybooks was missing.

Even the walls had been painted a slightly dark grey to cover up the off white they had been.

An empty glass of what must have been water sat on a small nightstand next to the bed, and Kili gave his mother a look she didn't have to interpret.

"What? Yes I sleep in here sometimes." She said defensively even as she crossed the room and picked up the glass. "I don't want to keep your father up with my tossing and turning." Kili knew she had had trouble sleeping since that night.

He'd moved into a room in the basement when he'd grown too old to sleep in his parents’ room - even a basement didn't hold the horror of his old bedroom - and often had to listen to the creaking of the floor above his head as she wandered around like a ghost during the night.

She held the glass in front of her and squeezed it a little so her wedding ring made a clinking against it. "Don't tell your father...he worries."

That was an understatement but Kili nodded for her to continue. He was used to keeping secrets. His mother's, his father's, even his dead brother's.

"I feel closer to him in here." She explained, looking away from Kili, and she didn't have to explain who she was talking about. "It was the last place I saw him, and sometimes it feels like he's still here." She said and then chewed at her lip, debating something that Kili couldn't guess.

"Sometimes I hear him when I'm about to fall asleep." She finally admitted and gave Kili a hard look. "I can hear him giggling. Maybe it's just me dreaming, but I don't care. I know my son's laugh." Her tone was defensive, as though she expected Kili to lash out and tell her she was crazy.

Kili didn't think he had any place to judge her sanity, so he said nothing and instead finally stepped into the room for the first time in fifteen years and wrapped his arms around her.

That night Kili climbed into the bed, setting his cellphone down on the nightstand before tucking himself under the covers. It was a little surreal and being there brought a little nostalgia to him.

Even though it was dark he could still see the outline of things and glanced to the opposite side of the room almost expecting to see a small figure sitting up in a child's bed the way he remembered Fili doing when they were little. They would whisper to each other after lights out until their giggling and talking was eventually heard and one of their parents came in to tell them to sleep.

He sighed, sad from the memories, and with one last glanced at the closed closet doors, he shut his eyes to sleep.

*

…only to be woken a few hours later with the disorientating thought of _Mom was right_. The thought registered before the sound that woke him did, but when it did, Kili’s entire body grew cold. It was a familiar cold – one he hadn’t felt since he was five years old, curled up much like he was now and listening to his big brother whispering to some sort of phantom in the dark.

There were no whispers this time.

There was a _giggle_.

Fili’s giggle as clear and light as Kili remembered it being and oh god _how was this possible?_

There was another sound, a thump of some kind, as though a body had just plunked itself down on the floor.

With shaking fingers, Kili slowly managed to peel the blankets away from his face so he could peer across the dark room, eyes widening as his mind tried to register the little boy shaped shadow sitting right in front of the open closet doors.

“Ow! I fell.” The small boy whined quietly even as he struggled to get up again, and Kili’s heart _ached_ hearing that voice for the first time in so long even as it began racing wildly as the realization came upon him.

“F-Fili?” He croaked even as he scolded himself, telling himself that he was dreaming or hallucinating – anything than actually seeing the form of his dead brother.

Though it was dark, Kili could tell when Fili’s head whipped toward him at the sound of his voice, and an excited squeal escaped the form even as the shadow made its way closer to the bed.

“Kili! KiliKiliKili!” Fili chanted excitedly as he seemed to stumble over something and almost fell, though caught himself before he did. Small hands grasped at the bedsheets and suddenly Kili wasn’t looking at a shadow anymore.

He was looking at the face of his six year old older brother.

“I missed you!” Even in the dark, Fili’s eyes glittered brightly in what light the moon provided, and his was wearing a large grin.

For a moment Kili forgot how to breathe. Surely his mind was playing tricks on him – this couldn’t be real. It was impossible!

But so was disappearing inside a closet.

Maybe he was dreaming, maybe he’d finally snapped. Whatever was going on, Kili had his brother back, even for just a little while. Maybe this was his chance to truly say goodbye.

“I missed you too, Fili.” He hesitantly reached out and ruffled the blond strands, sending the child into hysterical giggling at the touch. He felt so _real_.

“Come play a game!” Fili insisted, grabbing Kili’s hand and tugging him until Kili had to climb out of bed.

There were no games of course, the room having been emptied of any long before now. But they made do with what they had – it wasn’t the first time they’d had to use their imaginations instead.

They had a pillow fight, and when they got tired of that they built a little fort using the end of the bed as one wall. Of course the fort became a castle and Kili became a dragon who was quickly defeated by the mighty knight guarding it.

Eventually Kili collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavy but feeling lighter than he probably ever had. This felt like just want he’d needed.

There was some tugging beside him as Fili climbed up next to him, clumsily falling on his face as he did so. “Ow.” He whined as he rubbed at his nose.

“I don’t remember you being so clumsily.” Kili commented even as he reached over and poked that abused nose.

Fili said nothing but stared at Kili almost thoughtfully. Then he shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed and kicking his feet against the side. “Thanks for playing with me, Kili!” He said brightly before muttering something that caused the hair on the back of Kili’s neck to stand on end. “He doesn’t play with me anymore.”

Kili sat up, that coldness that had dissipated with their games was slowly creeping back. “Who doesn’t play with you anymore?”

Fili continued on as though Kili hadn’t said anything. “But he promised that we could come back and play with you, and I had so much fun!”

“Who is _he_ , Fili?” Kili almost demanded but managed to keep his voice level.

Even as he asked the question a creek from a few feet away froze Kili’s insides like he was five and hiding under the covers again. Even after years of avoiding the room, Kili would know the sound of that _closet_ anywhere.

Fili jumped off the bed, tripping and falling on the floor with a grunt. After a moment to orient himself, he began to cross the room.

It was then that Kili realized another form had appeared. A thin form as tall as the ceiling and too dark to see even with the light from the moon. It seemed to raise a hand over his brother’s head and even as Fili was speaking, Kili was diving across the bed to where he knew his cellphone should be.

“Strings really wanted to meet you Kili, and he says that you can play with me forever and ever now!” His brother sounded so happy even as Kili was filled with panic.

“Don’t you want to play with me forever?”

With the cellphone grasped in his hand, Kili shone the light of the screen toward the middle of the room and his entire body shuddered in absolute horror at what the light revealed.

Blood stained strings dangled down from a gnarly and twisted hand, and as Kili’s eyes followed the strings gently swaying in the light of his phone, his stomach dropped down to his knees. They were wrapped around Fili’s wrists, neck, and ankles like a _marionette_.

One of those grotesque fingers moved a string and Fili took a clumsy step closer, almost falling but managing to right himself. Another finger shifted and his brother’s arms rose as if beckoning Kili to come to him. No. No no **_no_**. He wasn’t _like_ a marionette. He _was_ a marionette.

The withered thumb with its claw like nail twitched prompting Fili to speak.

“Come play with me Kili! We can be together forever and ever.”

The cellphone was suddenly whisked from Kili’s hand and he could see the pair of shadows advancing towards the spot where he sat utterly petrified. Just before they descended, he had one last coherent thought.

How was their mother going to survive losing both of her sons?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


End file.
